


Left Blooming Alone

by swamppopsoda



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, F/F, Hurt No Comfort, RWBY - Freeform, Romance, homemade STRQ lore because there's none in canon, rosebird week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:34:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25869766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swamppopsoda/pseuds/swamppopsoda
Summary: The first time Raven made a portal to Summer. And the last.Inspired by two songs I associate very much with Rosebird.
Relationships: Raven Branwen/Summer Rose, Raven Branwen/Summer Rose/Taiyang Xiao Long (mentioned), rosebird - Relationship
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	1. Kiss From a Rose

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fujiii](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fujiii/gifts).



> I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey  
> The more I get of you, the stranger it feels  
> Now that your rose is in bloom  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey

Summer really hadn’t been sure about the whole “Team STRQ” thing for the first several weeks that they were a team. In theory they worked. And in the field they worked too. But on a day to day basis Summer really wasn't sure how they had survived each other for a whole semester. Taiyang was a raging ball of fire and robust charisma on a team of refined introverts and Qrow. Speaking of, Summer found out very quickly that he was very accident prone and spent a lot of time yanking him back by his cape from his own Semblance-generated mishaps. And Qrow’s whole loner shtick really got to her sometimes; many days she just wanted to beat the self-loathing out of him and scream in his face that he was a valued member of their team until he believed it. And then there was the other Branwen twin. How she had had the good fortune to land on a team with  _ both  _ of them she really had no idea. Raven was ridiculous. She really was. With Raven it was all brooding silences, dry comments, and a whole lot of leg. For real there was no way that her skirt was dress code approved. But she didn’t think Qrow’s cape adhered to the curriculum either. And out of all the people on this team, she was certain Raven was the one least thrilled to be there. 

A point that was once again being driven home as Team STRQ stood in front of the mission board trying to decide what to take on next. Except for Raven who was off to the size by several feet, arms crossed and looking vaguely annoyed at her team’s indecisiveness. 

“How about a search and rescue mission down south?” Summer pointed to where one icon glowed unclaimed _. _

“Doesn’t that seem a little far?” Qrow squinted at the mission location marker on the map, “I don’t think it’d be worth the trouble.”

“Okay. What about this one? Tai? Raven? Thoughts?” Summer pointed to another vacant mission slot. 

“Escort.” Tai read aloud, “A group of engravers needs safe passage from their town to Vale.” 

“Boring.” Raven interjected, elbowing between Tai and Qrow, “Our last mission was just perimeter defense for some backwater town, let’s do something interesting. Let’s do this one.” 

Everyone crowded around to read the one she pointed to.

“Search and destroy: an Ursai Major appeared outside several towns and has attracted a small band of Boarbatusks. Three confirmed deaths.” Summer looked at Raven, “You sure Raven? Even if it’s not a big pack right now things could escalate quickly out there.”

“I’m down!” Tai piped up from behind Raven’s hair, “I’ve been jonesin’ for a good combat mission.”

“What does that even mean?” Qrow gave Tai a weird look.

“Shut up man I dunno I just think it’d be fun to get out and fight some monsters.”

“You just wanna impress Rave-”

“Okay! So search and destroy? Everyone on board?”

Qrow shrugged in a very Qrow like manner and folded his arms behind his head, “Sure.”

Tai gave a thumbs up as Raven reached forward and filled in the name slot herself. 

**S_T_R_Q**

“Alright team, let’s go get ready for our next mission! Qrow, please remember to pack extra shoelaces this time. We don’t need a repeat of the last search and destroy mission.” 

*** 

The Team STRQ dorm room was a flurry of activity for the rest of the day. Raven sat on her bed cross legged and examining each of her dustblades before methodically whetting it to her standard. Summer reviewed a brief checklist of everything they needed, occasionally checking her scroll to see if professor Ozpin had responded in regards to getting them a transport. On the boys side of the room Tai and Qrow were having some sort of weird back and forth about nipple piercings vs facial piercings and which had the more acceptable pain-to-sex-appeal-ratio

. 

Summer sighed and put down her list, sneaking a glance at Raven. Her back was straight, her legs crossed, some of her hair fell past her shoulders framing her serene and focused face. For once she didn’t look annoyed. 

“Y’know Raven,” Summer stretched and cracked her back, “you should shut up and relax more often. The look suits you.” 

The methodical hiss of her whetstone stopped but she didn’t look up, “I’ll take your word for it.” The whetstone started up again. 

Summer rolled her eyes and got up, circling around to stand in front of Raven’s bed, “Hey now, I mean it. You’re very beautiful when you’re not actively being annoyed by the rest of us.”

This time Raven did look up so she could give Summer one of her withering Gothic glares. Summer reciprocated with a wink and a smile. 

On the other side of the room Qrow made a slight gagging noise, “Y’know Tai if I didn’t know better, I’d say my sister was  _ flirting. _ ”

“That was flirting?” Tai matched Qrow’s stage whisper, “It looked more like a wordless promise of slow and painful dismemberment to me.”

“No see that’s just it. Raven  _ never  _ reacts to compliments. Even Summer’s shitty ones.”

“Oooohhhh.” 

“Aren’t you two supposed to be packing?” Summer turned on them and put her hand on her hip in her signature, ‘I don’t take the shits I just deal them out’ stance. 

“Same goes to you oh righteous leader. Unless Raven is sexting you with her mind now I think that’s Oz with the transport deets.” 

“Ah!” Summer dove for her buzzing scroll while Tai and Qrow snickered. Raven ducked her head and went back to her blades with a glare aimed at no one in particular. Secretly she hoped her hair covered the red she could feel now burning on her ears. 

*** 

Team STRQ’s landing strategy was, to put it lightly, shit. Qrow was always the first to jump. Using shots from Harbinger he slowed his descent and improvised from there with whatever mishap his Semblance wrought. Summer and Tai would go next. Tai usually just tanked the landing but Summer would at least try not to eat shit every time. And Raven just cheated. As soon as Qrow hit the ground she opened a portal and landed, unbothered and unruffled, next to her usually prone twin. 

Summer hadn’t learned about Raven’s Semblance for a while after their team had been formed. And when she had she couldn’t help but wonder, why hadn’t Raven gone to Qrow at Team Choosing Day? She guessed she’d never know why Raven stuck around long enough to make eye contact with her rather than just leave right away. But she wasn’t complaining either. 

“Okay STRQ,” once everyone was on the ground safely she called her team over, “according to our information the Grimm pack we’re looking for was last seen headed West from this spot. We’re going to track them, and take them out. If we move fast we can be home by tomorrow night in time to catch the new episode of Ebony Curtains, which I’m sure none of us want to miss.”

There was a glint in Raven’s eye as she drew Omen, “I have to know if Lord Dubh is going to propose to Lady Ivory or leave her for the kitchen wench. No spoilers this time.” With that she took off running in the direction Summer had pointed. 

“I concur,” Qrow solemnly agreed and followed his sister.

“Geez,” Tai activated his weapons, Havendance, “you guys take your soap operas way too seriously.”

Summer made a shocked face at him and swatted his arm, “How dare you! It’s not  _ just  _ a soap opera, it’s high art. And also the only really good smutty television that Oz hasn’t blocked from the school network. I'll bet because he watches it too.”

Summer left Tai standing shaking his head, “Goths,” he muttered, and pursued the rest of his team. 

***

They didn’t have to go far. Less than an hour after landing they had encountered their enemies. The Boarbatusk came first, a small wave of them charging out of the bushes and almost taking them by surprise. Team STRQ however was not so easily taken by surprise. Tai was ready and he met them head on. After that the Beowulf started diving out of the foliage and trying to surround them. 

“This wasn’t in the mission description!” Qrow yelled as he fired multiple rounds from his shotgun. 

“Well Grimm are hardly known for their punctuality.” Summer shouted back, “Now stop bitching and take them out!” 

Not long after that their main target lumbered into view. They had managed to work themselves into a small clearing which gave them some advantage. Especially when the massive Ursai Major showed itself with a roar that made Summer shudder. 

“Alright! That’s thing’s huge!” Tai seemed excited at least. He shook out his arms and checked the straps on his weapons. 

Havendance were a pair of tonfas that Tai had modified to double as bracers. They wrapped around his forearms and with every hit the Monouchi would spring forward and smash whatever foe he was fighting, effectively doubling the damage of every hit that landed. 

He was the first of SRTQ to run towards the Ursai. And subsequently the first to be batted aside by it’s gigantic paw. He skidded across the dirt but managed to flip himself upright before he could hit anything hard. Before he could jump back in a Boarbatusk blocked his path. This trend continued for what Summer considered an unacceptable frame of time. One or two of Team STRQ would try to land a hit, only for it to glance off the tough hide and spikes or be swatted away and engaged by some other Grimm that had found its way into the clearing. 

Finally Summer had had enough, “Raven, Tai, cover me!” 

She twirled her weapon and ran towards the Ursai, lower and faster than Tai had been. 

Weathered Thorn was Summer’s weapon. A Halberd that was twice as tall as her and deadly at both ends. On the top was a gleaming axe head with two blades that curved elegantly on both sides. Between them was a long, sharp point that Summer had affectionately named the weapon after with veins of Burn Dust forged into it. And on the opposite side of the pole was a large chunk of Gravity Dust shaped like a rose. It had to be replaced fairly often but Summer thought it was well worth it. 

The Ursai swiped at her, as it had her teammates, but she knew it was coming. Summer slammed Weathered Thorn’s base into the ground, sending herself flying into the air. She angled herself as she fell and with one precise movement, shoved the tip of her halberd into the base of the Ursai Major’s skull and swung around so she was effectively situated atop the hulking beast. It roared in anger and blindly swiped at her. Summer ducked, easily avoiding the claws, and activated the Burn in Thorn. There was a flash under the Ursai’s black fur and it’s arms fell limp. As it dropped to the ground, black smoke seeping from the hole Summer had made, she easily jumped off and landed lightly on the ground. The Ursai Major dissolved completely into black smoke. 

“Nice one!” Tai cheered from where he was dealing with his own, much smaller, Ursa. 

Looking around Summer could see her team was maybe just a little overwhelmed. Qrow and Summer were at opposite ends of the clearing, dropping Beowulf, Ursa, and Boarbatusk as fast as they came at them. But they kept coming at them. This could get messy if they let it drag on too long, Summer mused. With a flourish of Weathered Thorn she took off towards Qrow who looked like he was running low on ammo. 

The sounds of the battle continued for some time. Growls and yelps, gunshots and the whistle of blades. Summer was starting to get worried they had picked the wrong mission when the push they needed to gain footing came. 

“Everyone drop!” Tai’s voice called out across the clearing. Summer shoved Weathered Thorn into the gaping maw of another Beowulf and turned to check as it disintegrated. Sure enough, Tai was getting ready to use his semblance. His arms blackened and smoked, taking on the appearance of charred coals while his eyes almost looked like they were glowing. Summer dropped to the ground and laid herself flat against the grass. To her right she could see Qrow had done the same. 

Between one moment and the next the air heated around Tai until it shimmered. He looked over to whom Summer assumed was Raven, winked, and then brought his fists together with a resounding  **BOOM.** A ring of fire exploded around him. Sweeping across the clearing and immediately killing any Grimm caught out in the open. Summer closed her eyes and ducked her head as it passed over her, the heat searing the backs of her legs through her tights. 

“All clear!” was Tai’s call that indicated it was okay to stand. A small circle had been scorched into the ground around his feet and he was grinning like an idiot, “I think I managed to increase the overall circumference reach by three inches that time!” 

“Three inches?” Qrow brushed some dirt off his shirt, “that doesn’t seem like a whole lot.”

“Seriously Qrow? You try setting off an incinerating ring of fire and maintain it for twenty feet and three inches in all directions, see how your aura likes it.”

While the two of them settled into their usual back and forth Summer took a moment to reorient herself. The clearing was safe for now, but there were sure to be more Grimm coming. 

“I’m going to go on ahead!” she called to the rest of her team, “We’re not done here. Not yet. Catch your breath for a second if you need Tai. Raven and Qrow stay behind me until I say. I think we can catch the rest of them by surprise.”

Qrow nodded and activated Harbinger’s scythe while Raven took a stance at his side, changing her broken green dustblade out for an intact blade of her preferred red. 

Summer took a deep breath.

She wasn’t sure what her own Semblance, Fade, looked like to others. To her the world would go hazy and the colors would all bleed away into muted shades of grey. And when the world was completely monochrome, she knew that she no longer existed in an entirely corporeal form. She was invisible to all eyes. Her steps were lighter, like they weren’t making contact with the ground at all, and she could almost phase through attacks aimed at her. Almost. Tai once told her that when she used it, white rose petals would fall where she had been standing. 

“How did you know they were rose petals?” she had asked him. She knew she left behind petals but she had never actually seen them fall. They were just always there when she reappeared.

“Well what else would they be? You’re Summer Rose. It’s kinda obvious really. Also they smell like roses.” 

“You smelled my weird Semblance ghost rose petals?”

They had shared a laugh over that. 

But there were downsides to this strange Semblance of hers. It didn’t last for too long and it took a great deal of aura and concentration to phase in and out. Summer tried not to think too hard about what would happen if her aura broke while she wasn’t  _ there. _ The real moment of vulnerability came when she was Fading. When she wasn’t quite there and she wasn’t really gone. In those precious few moments when her aura was drawing her into this strange not-there world, it wouldn’t protect her from attacks. It was a bitch of a blind spot. 

“Summer!” 

It was Raven. Summer had had her back to the forest when she’d looked to check on her team. First mistake. Raven could see through her teammate the Beowulf charging out of the forest. It lunged out of the bushes claws inches from Summer’s face as she turned to face what Raven had been warning her about. The last Raven saw her eyes were wide with shock. Then she was gone. 

“Summer!!” 

A howl went up from the woods and another Beowulf dove out at Raven. She dismembered it easily and searched around frantically for any sign of their leader. There was none. Only the white petals where she had been standing. The Beowulf had gone too. Whether Summer had gotten it with a reflexive hit or it had just gone back into the forest Raven wasn’t sure. 

“Qrow!” she barked to her brother, “cover Tai. Sunspot always takes a lot out of him. I’m going after Summer.”

“Yeah yeah go get her tiger.” Qrow grunted without looking up from the two Beowulf he was parrying between. 

Raven ran off towards where Summer had disappeared. She crashed through the thicket looking for any sign of her. Around her she could hear more Boarbatusk and Beowulf running towards the clearing. Unless they directly stood in her way she ignored them. Qrow and Tai were more than capable of handling themselves.

It had been more than a minute since Summer had gone. That wasn’t good. 

“If I stay in Fade for more than a minute, I start to feel thin. Like I’m made of smoke and breath instead of flesh and blood. And I’ll just fade away completely into nothing.” 

Summer had told her that one night while they’d been removing all the legs from the beds. Turns out Qrow and dorm room furniture don’t mix. At the time Raven had wondered why Summer was telling her that. A brief moment of trust shared between the two and for what? Raven really wasn’t sure. She wasn’t sure about Summer or this whole “team” business or even what she was truly doing at Beacon anymore. She supposed it didn’t matter right now. 

“Summer?” She stopped running and tried to make sense of her muddled thoughts. There was no response. 

“Summe- oh  _ fuck  _ this!” Raven slashed Omen through the air in frustration, thinking about the look on Summer’s face before she disappeared. And then back to that moment of trust Summer had shared with her that night and how she didn’t deserve it no matter how pointless it was. She wasn’t part of this team, she was here on a mission, she wasn’t-

A portal opened where Omen cut the air. 

Raven’s brain came to a screeching halt. This portal wasn’t for Qrow. It wouldn’t make sense for it to be. Could it… 

“No better time to find out than now,” she muttered, and jumped through. 

The portal deposited her back closer to the clearing but from what she could tell the opposite direction of where she’d run. There were multiple Beowulf in the area snapping at some sort of haze. No, not haze. Summer. Phasing in and out in the light between the trees seemingly caught between Fade and flesh. She was handling herself well all things considered. But Raven could see she was slipping.

A quick assessment of the situation and she jumped into the fray, eviscerating two Beowulf in one spin. She heard Weathered Thorn hiss behind her and a yelp as Summer took out another. Together the two of them made quick work of the remaining Grimm. 

When she was sure no more of them would come out of nowhere Raven spun around to face Summer. She was kneeling on the ground, head bowed and leaning against Weathered Thorn. Her breathing was labored and as Raven watched her aura flickered white before breaking. She was solid again though, and that was what mattered. 

Raven sheathed her sword and knelt in front of her. Summer’s hair had fallen out of it’s usual half-ponytail and hung around her sweaty face. 

Before she could allow herself a moment to think Raven reached forward and cupped one her cheeks in her hand. With the other she brushed the stray strands of hair out of her face. Then she leaned down and kissed her gently on the forehead. Raven felt she should’ve worried more in that moment about what she was doing. This definitely wasn’t part of the plan. But she was too relieved to see her leader, her friend, safe that she just needed this moment. 

When she pulled away she really expected Summer to be angry. To slap her, to yell, to look at her in disbelief. That wasn’t Summer though. 

“Oh come the fuck on! If you’re gonna kiss me you gotta mean it Raven.    
Here lemme show you.” Summer took one hand off her weapon to cup the back of Raven’s head and pull her forward into a real kiss. 

Raven had never really thought about having a first kiss. Growing up in a place no young girl should grow up had its adverse effects. She imagined though that if she thought of what her first kiss would have been like, this would have been far better than anything she would’ve come up with. 

Summer was sweaty and smelled like dirt and putrid Grimm smoke. Raven was no prize herself at the moment. Her hair was a mess and she was sure she was covered in dirt and scrapes. It was perfect. 

Raven wouldn’t have imagined any other way. 

Summer pulled away first. Her cheeks were tinged red and Raven didn’t think it was from exertion anymore. Her pupils were wide and she smiled. Not an “eat shit” Summer smirk either or the devious grin she was prone to on occasion. No, this smile was for Raven and Raven only. It was warm and bright and made Raven want to kiss her all over again. 

“You know how I said you looked beautiful when you’re not being actively annoyed by the rest of us? Well,” Summer stood and brushed some dirt off her skirt, offering a hand to Raven, “I think you look even more beautiful when you’re being a romantic sap in the middle of a mission.” 

Raven allowed herself to smile and rolled her eyes. She accepted Summer’s hand and her leader pulled her up with ease. Sometimes she forgot how strong she was. 

“Well, I’m still no match for how beautiful you look when you shut up for once and fight.”

Summer laughed, clear and bright as a bell and swatted Raven’s arm, “Raven Branwen, did you just make a joke?”

Raven smiled wider, “If the truth is considered funny, then yes, I suppose I did.”

Summer gave Weathered Thorn an experimental twirl and gazed fondly at Raven, “Well, I’m glad to see you finally coming out of your shell. Now c’mon, let’s go make sure the boys haven’t become hopelessly lost in our absence.”

Summer grabbed Raven’s hand and she let herself be led. 

Maybe that moment hadn’t been so pointless after all. Not anymore. 


	2. Save a Prayer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And you wanted to dance so I asked you to dance  
> But fear is in your soul  
> Some people call it a one night stand but we can call it paradise  
> Don't say a prayer for me now  
> Save it til the morning after  
> No don't say a prayer for me now  
> Save it 'til the morning after

Summer Rose was dead. 

Raven stared at her grave and a string of ugly words stared back.  _ Thus kindly I scatter.  _ The inscription opened a bitter pit in Raven’s stomach. That was so like Summer. So very very like the Summer Raven knew so well. The Summer who would poke fun at both the twins for their respective melodramatics but who would then dismiss her own as the burden of a leader. The Summer who questioned Qrow’s choice in battle outfits only to show up in her own stark white cape the next year. She cared so much in ways Raven couldn’t begin to understand. 

_ Thus kindly I scatter.  _

So like her for her grave to read like some profound poem when it reality it just read like some stupid inside joke. Tai probably picked it if she was being honest with herself but still. 

As she stared at the grave the bitter pit in her stomach grew hot with rage. This was so unlike the Summer she knew. Summer would’ve come back. Summer would have survived. She wouldn’t have died. She was the best of them. She couldn’t be gone.

There was no way. No way. Had  _ she  _ gotten to her too? The thought made Raven shudder. 

She remembered when they’d first met she’d been skeptical at best. How was this quiet, gentle, delicate flower with eyes so sparkly she looked like she was always about to cry, supposed to lead their team. But Raven learned the hard way just like the rest of them. She was kind and gentle, yes, but she took no shit from her team. She was their leader first and their friend second. And that sparkle in her eyes? It wasn’t tears. It was the hardened steel of a ruthless warrior. Summer was like her namesake. Warm and brutal and bright and relentless all at once. Like every Summer it seemed as well that she had met her close. 

Omen was in Raven’s hand before she’d realized she’d drawn it. Her hands shook with rage.

She thought of the Summer she knew. That day. That mission. When she had seen Summer use Fade and realized for the first time that she didn’t know what she would do if she really were to disappear. She thought of the desperation and how in that tense moment she only wanted to see her friend’s face come back to her. 

Screaming, Raven turned and swung Omen in a broad arc, slashing nothing but air. 

A portal opened. Raven stopped and for a moment so did her heart. 

That couldn’t be right. Her portals didn’t open for corpses. She knew that from back when her parents had died while out on a mission. Portals didn’t open for dead people. Which meant… 

Raven ran through without hesitation. There hadn’t been a body. There was no corpse of Summer Rose. Just an empty space she hadn’t come back to fill. An absence. Not a loss. On the other side Raven skidded to a stop. Her breath came out in small puffs in front of her as she took in the monochrome landscape she found herself in. It was snowing here. Wherever ‘here’ was. She was in a forest surrounded by slender birch trees and pine. There was no sign of anyone other than herself. The air was still. 

“Summer?” she winced at how weak and broken her voice sounded. She ventured to try again, “Summer?” 

Nothing.

Then something caught Raven’s eye. Between the falling snow it was almost invisible but. Petals. There was no mistaking the fresh white petals and drifted lazily in the air not more than a few yards from where the portal had opened. 

“Summer!” 

There was a sound now. Someone was running. Raven could see the faint marks in the snow as their feet hit the ground. Raven gave chase. One moment she was herself and the next there was a large black bird flying between the crooked trunks of the trees. An enchanted raven chasing the ghost of a flower. In the back of her mind with some disdain Raven thought that if Ozpin were here he would have said it was like something out of a fairytale. Fairytales were bullshit. Especially since most of them seemed to be more historical nonfiction than fantasy. Here and now though this was fresh reality unfolding in front of her. 

Summer couldn’t stay Faded for long. Even in the many years since they’d first met her time slot had only lengthened by a couple minutes. If Raven could just keep on her until then.

_ There.  _ The faintest outline of a figure in white weaving between the trees. Raven alighted on a branch and watched as the figure slowed and became fully realized. Against the backdrop of snow Summer’s iconic white cape should’ve been nearly invisible. But it wasn’t stark white anymore. It was burned and torn and stained. The hem of it was darkened with mud and charred in areas. Other spots looked like they had been worn thin or otherwise tattered. 

**_CAW_ ** __

Raven flapped off the branch and landed in the snow as herself. 

“Hello Raven.” Summer didn’t turn to face her. 

Raven said nothing. She didn’t need to. Summer already knew everything she would have said. Instead she waited. 

They stood like that for a while. The two of them in silence as the snow continued to fall. Finally Summer sighed and reached for her hood, pulling it down as she turned to face Raven. 

The first thing Raven noticed when Summer looked at her were her eyes. Those beautiful silver eyes. Eyes that had sparkled when Raven had first seen them in the Forest of Foreverfall. Eyes that Raven truly believed could only be matched in beauty by the moon itself. They were in ruins. Her right eye was the same. The same shade of silver. But it was dim and the light that usually sparkled was faint. And her left eye. Gods, her left eye was a mess. There was a nasty scar, raised and pink and angry that reached down from her temple and ended just short of the bridge of her nose. Her eye was still silver, but it was wrong. Like liquid mercury, as if the silver had leaked from her iris into the rest of her eye and infected it. Streaks of red, shot through the silver like some sort of grotesque pour painting. 

“Summer,” Raven breathed and the name came out in a swirl of mist. “What happened to you? Why is everyone saying you’re dead? Where did you  _ go?  _ Was it Oz?” 

Summer smiled sadly at her, “I see you’re still not communicating with your teammates Raven. No, it wasn’t Oz. This time it was my business.”

“Wha-”

“I didn’t ask why you left. You don’t need to know why I did too. Please respect that my secrets are mine to keep in death.”

Raven looked sheepishly at the ground, “It wasn’t something I wanted to do. Oz, what he was sending me out there for. The missions, the reconnaissance, and then Tai and Yang. I had to go home. I got too involved. I should have never gotten involved with any of this!”

“And yet here you are. Speaking with a dead woman who I know you care for. Why did you come here Raven? If you didn’t want to stay involved, why seek me out.”

“It wasn’t intentional.”

“Then why stay?”

“Because you’re right Summer,” she rounded on her, “I  _ do  _ care! About you and the others but I can’t care like you do. Please, come back. Tai, Yang, Ruby, Qrow, they need  _ you.  _ I can’t do anything for them now.”

“You and I both know that’s not true.” 

“Who says? I leave for six years and suddenly you’re dead and our husband is wearing zip-off cargo shorts! Maybe I’ve changed too, did you ever consider that?!” 

“Raven,”

“What?”

“You will look after them? Yang and Ruby I mean. I’m not asking you to go back but please, watch over our daughters in my stead. Keep them safe. Tai too. You know how he gets.”

“I still don’t understand.  _ Why _ are you doing this? Why are you dead?” 

Summer sighed and absently traced circles in the snow with her boot, “My last mission  _ was _ business of my own. That didn’t seem to matter to Salem though.”

Raven’s eyes widened. Team STRQ had gone on plenty of Salem related missions. Mostly herself and Qrow. But it had all but fallen apart when Yang was born and Raven had left. But for her to target Summer?

“There was- I was in a fight. My eye, they hit me with something. It doesn’t, I don’t know what’s wrong but my eyes aren’t as strong as they were.” Summer’s hand reflexively reached up to cover the scarred tissue. 

“Salem is up to something. I fear her veins run deeper and stronger than any of us could have imagined. She’s doing something with the Silver Eyes. I don’t know what but I can’t exist anymore. For Ruby’s safety. As far as I know Salem also thinks I’m dead. And if not she’ll be coming to finish whatever this,” she pulled her hand away to look at Raven directly, “thing,  _ experiment, _ that she’s working on is.”

“What did she do to you?” Raven’s hands instinctively reached out but she stopped herself. 

“I’m really not sure. But it feels wrong. My left eye all I can see is white and it’s cold. It burns like ice. I worry that she did something more to it than just take my sight.” 

Raven was at a loss. Summer Rose, the best huntress she ever knew, bright and beautiful and ruthless, was dead. She had been defeated and now she couldn’t even show her face to those she loved. 

“How could you let that happen?”

“What?” Summer sounded confused, hurt even, but Raven wasn’t about to let that stop her. 

All her rage came bubbling to the surface, “How could you let that happen? You? Summer Rose? You let yourself be beaten and  _ now  _ what are the rest of us supposed to do without you?! You’re leaving Ruby and Yang and Tai when I needed you to be there for them! To be there because you’re better than the rest of us, you always have been! But  _ she  _ beat you and now what hope do the rest of us have!!?” Raven screamed at her, voice hoarse as a wound she hadn’t realized had opened, let it’s raw bleeding nature be known. 

“Raven,” Summer closed the distance between the two of them and placed her hand on Raven’s shoulder. Bitterly Raven noted the deep, angry scars and crissed and crossed over her knuckles. 

“Raven, you give me too much credit. I’m still me. I’m still human. There is not a single one of us who can set right this massive clusterfuck of a situation. Please. I need you to be the you I know. Strong and sure and tenacious and fierce and beautiful. Because I can’t be any of that anymore. Not for whom it matters.” 

Summer looked up at her through those now alien silver eyes. Then she leaned up and kissed Raven. It was nowhere near a perfect kiss. Summer’s lips just barely brushed against her own. Raven could feel the wetness of her tears and the raw split of a cut on her lower lip from a recent battle. Raven’s own lips were chapped from the cold and her breath stuttered in her chest. She could barely bring herself to reciprocate past the knot that had welled up in her throat. This couldn’t be it. After everything and all the passionate kisses they had shared this couldn’t be their last. It had felt like barely more than a whisper as their lips parted. But that’s all Summer was now. A whisper. A ghost. One of her fallen petals left in mourning for a light that had faded.

“Y’know, you should really think about getting an eye-patch or something. That eye of yours is fucked Sum.”

Summer smiled fondly, reaching up with one hand and cupping Raven’s cheek, “I’ll keep that in mind Rae. Thank you.”

Raven pulled back as Summer pulled up her hood. In spite of the fact that she had already left once before, Raven wasn’t ready for this goodbye. Her cheek felt raw against the cold in the absence of Summer’s warm hand.

Nonetheless, Omen’s red blade shone dully in the grey light of winter and she thought of her right hand at the tribe. A portal opened a few feet away, beckoning her back to the safety of the wilds and wastes. Back to where she didn’t have to think about this beautiful, fragile life she’d set up for herself with people she loved. With a sigh of resignation she turned away from Summer and made to leave. 

“And Raven,”

Raven paused, but she didn’t look back. She didn’t need to. She could hear the hurt in Summer’s voice as clearly as if she could see it on her face. 

“No more portals. Not anymore. I don’t want  _ her,  _ to find you.”

Raven squeezed her eyes shut. The last time she’d cried had been the day Yang had been born. Her memory betrayed her and couldn’t remember if they had been tears of joy, relief, pain, or grief. But she did remember that Tai had teased her for it for days. She wouldn’t cry now. Especially because now she knew exactly what these tears were for. 

“Okay. You’re dead. No portals.”

“Raven. Promise me.”

Raven opened her eyes and stared into the thrumming black of the portal before her. Her vision blurred but the tears didn’t fall. She wouldn’t let them, “Promise.”

And without waiting to hear Summer’s response. Without letting the first tear of grief fall. Without looking back. Raven Branwen stepped into the portal, and for the first time in her life, said a prayer. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New drinking game: take a shot every time I have Raven call Summer’s name because oopsie it’s a lot.   
> I hope you all enjoyed reading this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it! The songs that are mentioned are Kiss from a Rose by Seal (although I prefer the Dan Avidan cover) and Save a Prayer by Duran Duran. I leave it for you to decide who would be singing which to who. There was one other song I wanted to use called Snitches get Stitches by Amity Affliction, but it was a bit too angry a Rosebird song for this fic. Maybe next time. And until that next time thank you for reading and happy Rosebird week! <3 Thank you again to Fuji for the amazing art and content.

**Author's Note:**

> This one goes out to Fuji who made me into a rosebird shipper and who makes so much good content it feels wrong not to make content for her in return.
> 
> I haven’t seen a lot of headcannons around for the missing STRQ Semblances and Weapons so I improvised.  
> The inspiration for Taiyang’s Semblance was that Team STRQ needed an active type Semblance and I liked the motif of fire in the Xiao Long family so I made Sunspot as a complimentary predecessor to Burn. And Tai’s weapons, Havendance, are tonfas because I thought they worked best with his melee fighting style. Havendance is just an orchestral piece that I really like because it has a lot of fun percussive bits and the name sounds cool.  
> And then for Summer, Fade refers to the line from the Last Rose of Summer, “‘Tis the last rose of summer, left blooming alone; All her lovely companions are faded and gone.” It just fit. And I’ve always envisioned Summer’s weapon as a Halberd and the name Weathered Thorn works with that. 
> 
> Also I’m obsessed with the idea that when he went to Beacon Qrow had no idea how to dress and showed up in a cape and Summer was like “No no, it’s a look” and pulled up with her own cloak the next year and made it white because team STRQ represent.
> 
> Next Chapter to come Friday!


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